After years of planning, modernization of the outdoor athletic facilities at T.C. Williams will move forward this fall while most sports are canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
At a public meeting Monday night via Zoom, John Finnigan, Acting Director of Educational Facilities for Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS), announced that they have selected a contractor and expect that building permits will be approved within the next two weeks.
After permits are approved, the construction will begin with erosion and settlement control, grading and demolition of existing structures. After that, the construction crew will dig utility trenches and begin building foundations of the new structures.
Multiple members of the public asked about the status of a 150-year-old oak tree located near the old concession stand. Removing the three, part of the building plans, has drawn ire from community members who oppose taking down a healthy shade tree in an area with few of them.
ACPS said that despite their best efforts, the tree cannot be saved because there is no room to build the new concession stand and restrooms and storage building anywhere else on the site. They assured the public that they will plant an additional 31 trees on the site and replace trees that have died on the site earlier this year, but it will take years for those trees to replace the shade provided by the old oak tree.
The process to modernize the Parker-Gray Memorial Stadium at Alexandria’s T.C. Williams High School has been a long one.
Alexandria City Public Schools first applied for a permit in 2016 and held numerous community and advisory committee meetings before the Planning Commission and City Council approved the proposal in October 2018.
During the process, ACPS has made changes to the original plan based off community feedback including sliding buildings back 10 feet from the property line, pointing press box speakers away from nearby houses and moving the scoreboard from the west side of the field to the east.
The existing track and field will be demolished and the new athletic turf and track will be installed in October. At some point a new press box, which will be built off site, will be lowered via crane to its new location on the visitor’s side of the field.
A new concession building and a building for restrooms and storage will also be built. There will be no changes to the stands. All construction will move quickly and is expected to wrap up the end of January or February 2021. Finnigan said that the issue of stadium lights, which is currently under litigation, will be decided at a later date.
Hours for construction will be 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Saturdays. No construction will take place on Sundays or holidays. ACPS does not expect parking or impediment of vehicular and pedestrian access to be significantly impeded, particularly in light of COVID-19.
In response to a question about the fence around the property, Finnigan said that it will be a 10 foot fence with brick piers on the corners of the property.
ACPS will continue to post project updates on their website here.
